§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What response they will be making to the offer by Congressman Christopher Shays, the Chairman of the United States Congressional Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations, to include British service men and women in the investigations now proceeding in the United States into the effects for troops exposed to the toxic plume created by the demolition of the Iraqi chemical weapons stored at Khamisiyah in Southern Iraq. [HL5159]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministery of Defence (Lord Bach)The Government's initial assessment of the implications for United Kingdom personnel of the Khamisiyah demolitions was published in December 1999 in a Ministry of Defence paper entitled:Review of events concerning 32 Field Hospital and the release of nerve agent arising from US demolition of Iraqi munitions at the 165WA Khamisiyah depot in March 1991. The paper is available in the Library of the House and on the internet at: http://www.mod.uk/issuses/gulfwar/info/khamisiyah.htm. The Paper's main conclusion was that up to 9,000 UK troops might theoretically have been exposed to nerve agent following the demolitions but that the level of exposure would have no detectable effect on human health, either in the short or long term.
In April this year, the US DoD published the final version of its case narrative report on US demolition operations at Khamisiyah and a related technical report. Both reports are being analysed by Ministry of Defence officials. The implications for UK personnel will be made public when available, but at this stage there is no evidence to link the Khamisiyah demolitions with the range of symptoms of ill health being experienced by some UK Gulf veterans.
The Government are seeking clarification from Congressman Shays, through his office, of what work he had in mind when referring to UK personnel and the Khamisiyah demolitions during his visit to London last month.